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Health

Books to Learn This Summer season

The definition of a summer read evolves with the times, and even more so this year. As the weather warms and the pandemic wanes in the United States, what readers are looking for on the page will vary dramatically. Some might be in the mood for a whodunit, and others might feel pulled toward something more contemplative about the state of the world. But while the summer book crosses all genres, certain themes are transcendent — weddings, the beach, romance and escape in its many forms. Here are a few new and old classics to revisit this season.

‘Leave the World Behind’ by Rumaan Alam (2020)

This novel took the world by storm last fall, when it debuted into a world that felt just as dystopic as the one it created. It tells of a Brooklyn family whose Hamptons vacation veers from the script when an inexplicable catastrophe causes the world to stop. The family is joined by the owners of their rental home, who have showed up after being stranded amid the chaos. As Rumaan Alam depicts two couples struggling to make sense of the disaster they are facing, he explores race, parenting and the assumptions we make about one another.

‘The Talented Mr. Ripley’ by Patricia Highsmith (1955)

For those of us dreaming of summer sojourns to the south of Italy, Patricia Highsmith’s incredibly transportive midcentury novel is a highly enjoyable alternative. In the first of her Ripley novels, we see obsession take hold with the titular con artist when he ingratiates himself into a jet-setting crowd of beautiful and well-heeled Americans abroad . The building suspense and intrigue make this a taut novel (one that is now being adapted into a television series following the celebrated 1999 film) and a compulsively readable classic.

‘How Stella Got Her Groove Back’ by Terry McMillan (1996)

The restorative and transformative powers of vacation are on full display in this Terry McMillan novel, which also pairs perfectly with a day by the pool. Stella’s high-powered life as an investment analyst and single mother looks successful on paper, but has left her with a feeling that something’s missing. Her carefully crafted identity is examined after a trip to Jamaica, where an unexpected romance with a younger man forces her to rethink what she truly wants.

‘Sag Harbor’ by Colson Whitehead (2009)

Before writing the Pulitzer Prize winners The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys (as well as the upcoming Harlem Shuffle), Colson Whitehead put out this moving and contemplative look at summertime in the Hamptons for a young Black boy, whose life has echoes of Whitehead’s own. Benji, 15 and a New York City private-school student, is spending the summer of 1985 in his family’s home in Sag Harbor, a fancy enclave historically popular with Black families. What ensues is a tenderhearted coming-of-age story fused with a sharp look at the intersections of race and class.

‘Evil Under the’ by Agatha Christie (1937)

Agatha Christie novels have served as utterly dependable summer crime classics for decades. In this Hercule Poirot installment, the Belgian detective’sholiday at an idyllic English hotel suffers the signature interruption of a ghastly murder. This time it’s a flirtatious wife and stepmother who met her untimely end in a remote beach cove, and our mustachioed hero must deduce which of the assembled guests did the deed. The good news? If you enjoy this, there’s 81 more Christie mysteries where it came from.

‘Call Me By Your Name’ by André Aciman (2007)

The ’80s-era novel, which was given new life by the 2017 film adaptation, has all the hallmarks of a summer read — a secretive seasonal romance in a stunning European locale — with bona fide literary heft. The gay coming-of-age novel is both gorgeous and heartbreaking in its depiction of teenage longing and sexual awakening seen through the eyes of young Elio, an American 17-year-old whose summer in the Italian Riviera is shaken up by a passionate affair with an older man, a formative experience that he continues to process decades later.

‘Summer Sisters’ by Judy Blume (1998)

One of Judy Blume’s four adult novels, this cult favorite maintains the coming-of-age themes seen in her beloved books for younger readers. At the center of “Summer Sisters” are Caitlin and Vix, two diametrically opposed personalities who become inextricably bonded after Caitlin joins Vix on her family’s annual pilgrimage to Martha’s Vineyard. The yearly getaways shape their teenage years as each discovers romance and adulthood. Their grown-up lives take them on different paths, though ones that continue to converge throughout their lives.

‘The Wedding’ by Dorothy West (1995)

Dorothy West’s final book and her first novel in a 47-year period, “The Wedding” is set in 1953 during the wedding weekend of the favorite daughter of upper-class parents. Shelby has shaken up her family and their tight-knit Black community in Martha’s Vineyard by choosing to marry a white musician. The balance that was once carefully maintained is upended as guests explore the events in their lives that have led to this shifting moment, in a beautiful and devastating examination of family, society and race.

‘Seating Arrangements’ by Maggie Shipstead (2013)

Maggie Shipstead’s debut novel follows the time-tested formula that a book centered on a wedding naturally includes tense family dynamics, long-lost friends, love and a scenic locale, all compressed into the span of a few days. “Seating Arrangements,” which takes a sharp and satirical look at elitist WASP culture, doesn’t disappoint. In the days leading up to the marriage of Daphne, whose parents didn’t expect her to be heavily pregnant on her wedding day, a cast of dysfunctional and entitled guests gather on a small island, where, inevitably, sexual shenanigans ensue.

‘The Interestings’ by Meg Wolitzer (2013)

When a group of six friends meet at a summer arts camp in upstate New York in the mid-70s, all with their own deep creative pursuits, their connection leads to a lifelong bond. “The Interestings” explores the ecstasy and heartbreak of artistic longings, the joy of making it, the crushing despair of failure and frustration of seeing your friends find fame as you struggle. Meg Wolitzer beautifully examines the struggles of following (or relinquishing) your dreams and the tensions inherent in longtime friendships.

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Business

‘It’s Going to Be a Large Summer time for Arduous Seltzer’

The music should be pumping and the burgers and jerk chicken wings flying out of the kitchen this holiday weekend at the Rambler Kitchen and Tap in the North Center neighborhood of Chicago.

To wash it down, patrons might go with a mixed drink or one of the 20 craft beers the bar sells. But many will order a hard seltzer. The Rambler expects to sell close to 500 cans in flavors like peach, pineapple and grapefruit pomelo.

“We’ll sell a lot of buckets of White Claw and Truly seltzers,” said Sam Stone, a co-owner of the Rambler. “It’s going to be a big summer for hard seltzer.”

The Memorial Day weekend kicks off what many hope will be a more normal summer, when kids start counting down the number of days left in school, people head back to the beach and grills heat up for backyard parties that went poof last year because of the pandemic. And for the hard seltzer industry, it’s the start of a dizzying period when dozens of old and new competitors vie to be the boozy, bubbly drink of the season.

A grown-up cousin to fizzy seltzer waters like LaCroix, alcoholic hard seltzers became a sensation before the pandemic, racking up around $500 million in sales in 2018, according to NielsenIQ. But in the past year, when people couldn’t go to their favorite bars and restaurants, they picked up cases and cases of the drinks at liquor and grocery stores, sending revenues soaring to more than $4 billion in 2020.

Analysts are betting that another big wave of seltzer buying will hit this summer. Nik Modi, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, notes that hard seltzers are popular at group gatherings, which largely didn’t happen last year.

“This summer,” Mr. Modi said, “is going to be a completely different ballgame.” He and others predict that annual sales will top $8 billion over the next four years.

Dave Burwick, the chief executive of Boston Beer, said on CNBC last year that the growth of hard seltzers was the biggest shift in the beer industry since light beers were widely introduced in the 1970s. Boston Beer, the company behind Sam Adams, also makes Truly Hard Seltzer.

While White Claw and Truly — the Coca-Cola and Pepsi of hard seltzer — capture about 70 percent of the market, everyone wants in on the action, drawn by the staggering growth. Old-school beer companies, spirits giants, winemakers and others are fermenting sugar solutions and adding seasonal flavors like watermelon, black cherry and strawberry lemonade to create their own buzzy concoctions. (Care for passion fruit-orange-guava?) They’re also trying to outdo one another by coming up with new variations, like so-called spiked seltzers that use rum or tequila, seltzers with antioxidants or even “hard coffee.”

Boston Beer introduced Truly Iced Tea Hard Seltzer this year and a few weeks ago released an ad campaign with the British pop singer Dua Lipa. This spring, the hip-hop star Travis Scott released Cacti, a seltzer made with blue agave syrup, in a partnership with Anheuser-Busch. It quickly sold out in many locations.

“People were lining up outside of the stores to buy Cacti and share pictures of themselves with their carts full of Cacti,” said Marcel Marcondes, the chief marketing officer for Anheuser-Busch.

Also this spring, Topo Chico Hard Seltzer was released. A partnership between Coca-Cola and Molson Coors Beverage, it hit shelves in 16 markets across the country, chasing the cult following of Topo Chico’s seltzer water in the South.

“I feel like I can walk into a party saying, ‘Oh, yeah, I brought the Topo Chico,’” said Dane Cardiel, 32, who works in business development for a podcast company and lives in Esopus, N.Y., about 60 miles south of Albany.

Today in Business

Updated 

May 28, 2021, 12:54 p.m. ET

How flavored bubbly water with alcohol became a national phenomenon is partly due to social media videos that went viral and clever marketing that sold hard seltzers as a “healthier” alcohol choice.

White Claw’s slim cans prominently state that the drinks contain only 100 calories, are gluten free and have only two grams each of carbohydrates and sugar. The brand is owned by the Canadian billionaire Anthony von Mandl, who created Mike’s Hard Lemonade.

“The health and wellness element is front and center in terms of the visual marketing,” said Vivien Azer, an analyst at the Cowen investment firm. “Every brand’s packaging features its relatively low carb and sugar data.”

On top of that, the alcohol content in most hard seltzers, about 5 percent, or the same as 12 ounces of a typical beer, is less than a glass of wine or a mixed drink. That makes it easier for people to sip at a party or while watching a game without getting intoxicated or winding up with the belly-full-of-beer feeling.

“It’s a nice drink for an afternoon on the patio,” said Shelley Majeres, the general manager of Blake Street Tavern in downtown Denver. “You can drink four or five of them in an afternoon and not have a big hangover or get really drunk.”

Blake Street, an 18,000-square-foot sports bar, started selling hard seltzers two years ago. Today, they make up about 20 percent of its can and bottle sales.

The industry has also neatly sidestepped the gender issue that plagued earlier, lighter alcoholic alternatives like Zima, which became popular with women but struggled to be adopted by men.

“I’ve got just as many men as women drinking it,” said Nick Zeto, the owner of Boston Beer Garden in Naples, Fla. “And it started with the millennials, but now I have people in their 40s, 50s and 60s ordering it.”

That kind of broad appeal is attractive to beer, wine and spirits companies.

“We view ourselves as the challenger brand,” said Michelle St. Jacques, the chief marketing officer of Molson Coors, which has been making beer since the late 1700s but hopes to end this year with 10 percent of the hard seltzer market.

Last spring, the company released Vizzy, a hard seltzer that contains vitamin C. Topo Chico came this spring. “We feel like we’re making great progress in seltzer by not trying to bring me-too products, but rather products and brands that have a clear difference,” Ms. St. Jacques said.

While grocery and liquor stores have made plenty of space available to the hard seltzer brands that people drink at home, the competition to get into restaurants and bars is fierce. Most want to offer only two or three brands to their customers.

“Oh, my god, I get presented with new hard seltzer whenever they can get my attention,” said Mr. Stone, who sells six brands at the Rambler. The crowd favorite, he said, is the vodka-based High Noon Sun Sips peach, made by E.&J. Gallo Winery. “Everybody, from the big brands to small, new ones, are getting into the hard seltzer game.”

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Health

Summer time Drink Recipes – The New York Occasions

Like moving turtleneck sweaters to the back of the closet, it’s time to retire well-aged whiskeys and bring on the clear spirits, fruit juices and crushed ice. The warmer seasons demand refreshing drinks, alcoholic or not, served in tall, frosted glasses.

The classic repertoire has much to offer in this category; it’s hard to go wrong with a gin and tonic or a caipirinha. But many of these summer staples could stand a creative update or a touch of surprise without compromising their honest appeal. Detailed below are a gin and tonic with a Spanish twist, sangria made with rosé wine and a Bellini buzzed with one of the new pink Proseccos that did not exist when Giuseppe Cipriani created the now-classic in Venice. There is also a slushy Southside, with rum replacing the usual gin, a Paloma bolstered with grapefruit liqueur and spiked with chile, and a spritzer bejeweled with cherries, which always ramp up the refreshment level of a glass of wine, especially red.

For drinks of the nonalcoholic sort, Agua Fresca is the Mexican and Central American quencher made by simply adding some fruit purée or juice to cold water with a squirt of lime and, depending on the ripeness of your fruit, a touch of sweetener. Almost anything goes for this drink, even non-sweet additions like cucumbers. The Fourth of July American version would be lemonade, an almost blank canvas that can be splashed with summery flavors like strawberry, peach or mango.

Beyond these suggestions, you can add liqueurs like triple sec and elderflower or white rum to make a happy-hour iced tea, or drop a jigger of Sambuca into iced coffee to serve with or instead of dessert. Gin in the lemonade is a quick nod to Tom Collins, a summer standby, and crushed fresh berries enliven chilled sparkling cider, alcoholic or not.

Having fresh fruit, like watermelon and strawberries, on hand will give you access to festive, colorful summer drinks on a moment’s notice. Process some of it, diced, in a blender, stir into a glass of ice with (or without) the spirit of your choice and top it off with soda water. You might consider expanding your wardrobe of fruit liqueurs and spirits beyond the usual orange to include grapefruit, lemon, raspberry and apricot. In small amounts they can brighten up many summer drinks. And for sweetening drinks, especially chilled ones, it’s a good idea to have simple syrup on hand, made by simmering equal parts granulated sugar and water together until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear. Refrigerated, the syrup will keep for a month.

To serve, warm-weather drinks demand generous glasses; tall ones are best, chilled before filling. Plastic is often the choice for outdoors, and manufacturers have improved the quality of these, though glass has more class. And then there’s the question of straws. Avoid plastic; look for paper in the disposable department, or some of the new, reusable stainless-steel ones. There are also silver straws, long, and often with a spoon at the end for a posh yet convenient touch.

For drinks to serve more than two (or to have refills ready and to transport outdoors), you’ll want a pitcher; some have lids or come fitted with an enclosed receptacle for ice. A long mixing spoon is a useful accessory, and a good citrus juicer is also a worthwhile investment. Frozen drinks also call for a blender to reduce the ice to slush or fruit into purée; there are compact cordless ones on the market that can even go to the beach or on a picnic. And be sure your ice maker or ice cube trays are ready for overtime.

Adapted from Rosie Schaap

Time: 15 minutes plus chilling

Yield: 6 servings

1 ½ cups mixed red and pink fruit, such as raspberries, halved strawberries and grapes, pitted cherries, cubed apple with red or pink skin, peeled pink grapefruit or blood orange segments

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

¼ cup triple sec or other orange liqueur

1 bottle (750 ml) chilled rosé wine

½ cup chilled pomegranate juice

1. Place the fruit, sugar and triple sec in a pitcher and stir to combine. Refrigerate until the fruit softens a bit (at least 4 hours and up to 8).

2. Add wine and pomegranate juice, stir. Serve over ice in wine glasses, and include some of the fruit in each serving.

Adapted from Socarrat Restaurant, in New York City

Time: 10 minutes

Yield: 1 drink

2 ½ ounces gin

8 juniper berries, lightly crushed

2 dashes Angostura bitters

2 to 3 strips lemon peel (about ½ lemon)

4 ounces good-quality tonic water, chilled

1. Half-fill a large stemmed wine glass with ice. Add gin, juniper berries and bitters; stir.

2. Twist lemon peels over the glass to release the oils and drop them in. Add tonic water, stir and serve.

Time: 15 minutes

Yield: 6 drinks

1 cup chilled peach purée, preferably white (about 2 ripe peaches or purchased purée)

1 bottle (750 ml) rosé prosecco, preferably brut

12 fresh raspberries

1. Place 2 tablespoons peach purée in each of 6 champagne flutes. Slowly add 4 to 5 ounces prosecco, stopping as it bubbles up and continuing once it settles.

2. Drop 2 raspberries into each glass and serve.

Adapted from “The Ladies’ Village Improvement Society Cookbook”

Time: 10 Minutes

Yield: 2 drinks

2 ounces simple syrup

4 ounces white rum

2 ounces lemon juice

1 ounce lime juice

1 cup crushed ice or small ice cubes

Mint sprigs for garnish

1. Combine the simple syrup, rum and citrus juices in a cocktail shaker with ice; shake.

2. Strain into a blender with crushed ice. Blend until slushy, then pour into chilled goblets or glasses. Garnish with mint and serve.

Time: 5 minutes

Yield: 2 drinks

4 ounces blanco tequila or mezcal

3 ounces lime juice

3 ounces grapefruit juice

1 ounce grapefruit liqueur

4 ounces club soda or seltzer

Pinch chile powder or cayenne

Grapefruit wedges for garnish

1. Combine the tequila, citrus juices and grapefruit liqueur with ice in a cocktail shaker; shake well. Strain into tall glasses with ice and add soda.

2. Dust chile powder on top. Garnish with grapefruit and serve.

Time: 20 minutes plus chilling (optional)

Yield: 4 drinks

2 cups cubed ripe watermelon or honeydew, chilled

2 cups ice cubes

Juice of 1 lime

1 tablespoon simple syrup or agave syrup to taste (optional)

½ teaspoon salt, or to taste

Pinch ground white pepper

Basil sprigs for garnish

1. Purée the melon with ice in a blender. Stir in lime juice, syrup to taste, salt and pepper.

2. Transfer to a pitcher, add 2 cups water, stir and chill or pour into ice-filled glasses. Garnish with basil and serve.

Time: 15 minutes plus chilling

Yield: 6 drinks

4 cups brewed lemon verbena tea, chilled, or cold water

3 tablespoons simple syrup

Juice of 3 lemons (about ¾ cup)

1 cup diced strawberries, puréed

Lemon wheels and strawberry halves for garnish

1. Place tea or water in a pitcher or other container. Stir in simple syrup, lemon juice and strawberry purée. Chill at least 1 hour.

2. Stir well, pour into tall glasses filled with ice, garnish with lemon and strawberries and serve.

Time: 10 minutes

Yield: 1 drink

1 glass (4 to 6 ounces) fruity red wine (white or rosé can be substituted)

4 ounces sparkling water

Twist of lemon peel

3 ripe Bing cherries, pitted and halved

Pour wine into a large stemmed wine glass or goblet. Add sparkling water. Drop in lemon twist and cherries and serve.

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Health

Summer time to be low danger for Covid, however winter might be difficult

The coronavirus threat in the US is likely to be on the low side this summer, but there is no guarantee that it will stay that way later this year, said Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC on Friday.

“I don’t think we should declare the mission accomplished. I think we should declare a short-term victory,” the former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration said on Squawk Box.

Coronavirus cases in the country have fallen as more Americans are vaccinated against Covid. According to a CNBC analysis of Johns Hopkins University data, the 7-day average of new infections a day is 23,000. That has fallen by more than 50% since the beginning of May alone.

“I think we’ve done enough to give ourselves the opportunity to enjoy the summer and take a low risk this summer,” said Gottlieb, who headed the FDA from 2017 to 2019 and is now on the board of directors at vaccine company Pfizer . However, he added, “I think this will be a risk when we get into autumn and probably earlier into winter.”

Later on at CNBC, Gottlieb stated that he believed the risk was likely to increase in December and January.

“I think there are pockets all over the country that have low vaccination rates, that have people who haven’t been infected, so you’re going to see outbreaks. I don’t think we’re going to see anything on the scale of that, what we’ve seen in the past, “said Gottlieb to” Closing Bell “. “I think the public health steps we are going to take will be reactive, not proactive,” he added.

One reason for the cautious outlook for the colder months is that “we were able to see new variants,” said Gottlieb, who previously determined that respiratory pathogens such as the coronavirus generally spread more easily in winter. “I think we need to get better monitoring and sequencing of the strains so we can spot these variants faster,” he said.

The US cannot relax its efforts to have more people vaccinated either, said Gottlieb. This is a key factor in reducing risk across the country.

Around 50% of the country’s population had received at least one dose by Thursday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Gottlieb suggested that around 75% of the country could be vaccinated by the fall.

“So there is still a lot to be done. Right now we are on a pretty good way to do the right things,” he said.

Disclosure: Scott Gottlieb is a CNBC employee and a member of the boards of directors of Pfizer, genetic testing startup Tempus, healthcare technology company Aetion, and Illumina biotech. He is also co-chair of the Healthy Sail Panel for Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings and Royal Caribbean.

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Business

CDC eases summer time camp Covid steerage, says absolutely vaccinated teenagers do not want masks

kali9 | E + | Getty Images

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday relaxed their public health guidelines for summer camps, stating that fully vaccinated teens do not need to wear face masks or stay three feet away from others.

Fully vaccinated teens should continue to wear masks when necessary, including at local businesses and in the workplace, according to the CDC. Camps can support staff or campers who continue to wear a mask even if they are vaccinated, the agency added.

While unvaccinated adolescents should continue to wear masks, the CDC said they generally do not need to wear masks outdoors unless they are in a “significant to high transmission” area, in a crowded environment, or during activities that involve continued close contact with others.

The CDC’s new guide is approaching Memorial Day holiday weekend, the start of the summer vacation and camping season for many Americans.

On Wednesday, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky advised House lawmakers that the agency is revising its public health guidelines for summer camps to include vaccinated adolescents. Walensky approved expanded use of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine in 12 to 15 year olds two weeks ago.

As of Thursday, more than 165 million Americans 12 and older had received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine, according to the CDC. According to the CDC, more than 132 million Americans 12 and older are fully vaccinated.

Previous CDC guidelines recommended that all children wear masks, regardless of vaccination, with some exceptions for certain activities such as eating, drinking, or swimming. It has been criticized by some public health experts and parents who say the risk of spreading Covid outdoors is low and children are less likely to develop serious illnesses.

“My whole goal is to make sure the camps stay open and there are no outbreaks,” Walensky said during the hearing. She added that her own children didn’t go to camp last summer. “I want the camps to be open this summer.”

The guidance also comes two weeks after the CDC said fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear a face mask or stay 6 feet away in most environments, whether outdoors or indoors. People who were not vaccinated should continue to wear masks, the agency said, as they continue to be at risk of mild or serious illness, death, and the risk of the disease spreading to others.

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Entertainment

Summer season Motion pictures 2021: Right here’s What’s Coming to the Massive (and Small) Display screen

Here is a list of noteworthy films scheduled this summer. Release dates and platform are subject to change and reflect the latest information as of deadline.

CHANGING THE GAME (on Hulu) This documentary profiles three transgender athletes and their high school sports careers, with a particular focus on Mack Beggs, a transgender man who as a teenager wanted to compete in boys’ wrestling but, because of a rule in Texas, could only wrestle against girls.

ALL LIGHT, EVERYWHERE (in theaters) The biases of surveillance — by the eye, by police body cameras and in the composite photography of the eugenics proponent Francis Galton, for example — are the subject of this haunting, wide-ranging essay film from the Baltimore experimental director Theo Anthony (“Rat Film”). It won a special jury prize at Sundance.

THE ANCIENT WOODS (in theaters) The biologist and filmmaker Mindaugas Survila investigates the floral and faunal mysteries of a mostly untouched forest in Lithuania. Film Forum says the movie, poised between nature documentary and folklore, is suitable for children “whose attention spans have not been destroyed by technology.”

BAD TALES (in virtual cinemas) This Italian feature, winner of best screenplay at the Berlin International Film Festival last year, pulls back the facade of family life in a seemingly idyllic Rome suburb.

THE CARNIVORES (in theaters and on demand) The illness of a dog triggers the unraveling of a couple (Lindsay Burdge and Tallie Medel). The trailer promises ample servings of the dark and the grotesque.

CITY OF ALI (in virtual cinemas) Other documentaries have captured the highlights of Muhammad Ali’s career, but “City of Ali” deals specifically with his life in Louisville, Ky., where he was born and raised.

THE CONJURING: THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT (in theaters and on HBO Max) Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) return for what’s either the third or the eighth “Conjuring” movie. (Spinoffs like “Annabelle” and “The Nun” only sort of count.) This one involves the case of Arne Cheyenne Johnson (Ruairi O’Connor), who was convicted of manslaughter but who some believe was possessed. Michael Chaves (who directed another spinoff, “The Curse of La Llorona”) assumes the helm from the “Conjuring” director James Wan.

THE REAL THING (in virtual cinemas) Koji Fukada (the Cannes prizewinner “Harmonium”) directed this four-hour feature, based on a manga and condensed from a 10-episode series, about a toy seller who rescues a woman from being hit by a train and gets a whirlwind of adventure as his reward.

SLOW MACHINE (in virtual cinemas) In a fractured narrative, Stephanie Hayes plays an actress who has a series of bizarre encounters with a man who identifies himself as a New York City police intelligence specialist. The movie was shown in an experimental section of last year’s New York Film Festival.

SPIRIT UNTAMED (in theaters) The daughter (voiced by Isabela Merced) of a legendary horse rider (voiced by Eiza González) hops into her mother’s saddle in this computer-animated feature. Julianne Moore, Jake Gyllenhaal and Andre Braugher round out the vocal cast.

UNDINE (in theaters and on demand) Interweaving mythology and the history of modern Berlin, the German director Christian Petzold reunites the stars of his acclaimed “Transit” for a love story of sorts between a recently spurned tour guide (Paula Beer) and a diver (Franz Rogowski) who repairs bridges. What the film means is as slippery as the protagonists, who get soaked when a fish tank explodes during their meet-cute and are continually drawn to water.

THE AMUSEMENT PARK (on Shudder) In one of the stranger collaborations in cinema history, George A. Romero, just a few years removed from “Night of the Living Dead,” accepted an assignment from the Lutheran Service Society of Western Pennsylvania to make a film about the mistreatment of the elderly. True to form, he turned it into a horror movie. Made in the early 1970s and rarely shown until the recent arrival of a restored version in 2020, it will be widely available for the first time.

AWAKE (on Netflix) A cataclysm knocks out Earth’s power grids and gives the world’s population insomnia; the collective exhaustion leads to “Purge”-like conditions. Gina Rodriguez plays a former soldier whose daughter is somehow immune to the sleeplessness, but harnessing the cure isn’t as simple as giving everyone valerian tea. Jennifer Jason Leigh and Frances Fisher co-star.

TRAGIC JUNGLE (on Netflix) Yulene Olaizola directed this 1920s-set magical-realist feature, shown at the Venice and New York film festivals last year. It centers on a fleeing woman (Indira Andrewin) who finds herself in the company of gum workers in the Mayan rainforest.

THE WOMAN WHO RAN (in theaters) In the latest film from the prolific South Korean director Hong Sang-soo, a character played by Hong’s frequent star Kim Min-hee visits with three friends. There is also an argument with a neighbor about whether it’s all right to feed stray cats.

ASIA (in theaters) Shira Haas of “Unorthodox” plays a Russian immigrant in Israel who faces challenges both with her health and her mother (Alena Yiv). Ruthy Pribar directed, and it won the top prize from the body that gives out Israel’s equivalent of the Academy Awards.

CENSOR (in theaters) Shown at Sundance, this stylized British horror film is set in the 1980s, when what became known as “video nasties” — violent, cheaply made movies available on cassette — were all the rage. Niamh Algar plays a censor who does her utmost to protect the public (but maybe wasn’t so great at protecting her sister years earlier). Prano Bailey-Bond directed.

DOMINO: BATTLE OF THE BONES (in theaters) No, it’s not a sequel to Tony Scott’s 2005 movie “Domino,” in which Keira Knightley played a bounty hunter, or one to Brian De Palma’s recent film of the same title. Rather, it’s the story of how a man and his stepgrandson compete in a domino tournament. Baron Davis, the former N.B.A. star, directed and co-wrote.

HOLLER (in theaters and on demand) Jessica Barden plays a promising Ohio student who begins working in scrap-metal yards to keep her family together. Nicole Riegel directed; Pamela Adlon and Gus Halper co-star.

IN THE HEIGHTS (in theaters and on HBO Max) Expected to have been a huge hit in the summer of 2020, now destined to be a return-to-the-movies toe-tapper in 2021, this film adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s best-musical Tony winner — the one before “Hamilton,” that is — stars Anthony Ramos (a.k.a. Philip Hamilton) as Usnavi, the bodega owner Miranda played on Broadway. Stephanie Beatriz (“Brooklyn Nine-Nine”) and Miranda also appear. Jon M. Chu, who showed his skill with screen musicals in two of the better “Step Up” movies, directed from a screenplay by the musical’s book writer, Quiara Alegría Hudes.

THE MISFITS (in theaters) Pierce Brosnan, two decades from his turn in the “Thomas Crown Affair” remake, plays another thief who joins forces with a group to steal gold bars that a businessman (Tim Roth) uses to finance terrorists. Renny Harlin directed.

PETER RABBIT 2: THE RUNAWAY (in theaters) James Corden returns as the voice of Beatrix Potter’s famous hare, although Glenn Kenny of The Times wrote that the first film, from 2018, dispensed “with the sweetness and light and lyricism of the books.” Here, Peter ventures out of the garden to make trouble.

SKATER GIRL (on Netflix) Rachel Saanchita Gupta plays a teenager in northwestern India who discovers skateboarding and begins to dream of competing at a championship level.

SUBLET (in theaters) John Benjamin Hickey plays a grieving travel journalist (for The New York Times, no less) who rediscovers his zest for life in Tel Aviv. Eytan Fox directed.

WISH DRAGON (on Netflix) Jimmy Wong provides the voice of a college student and John Cho the voice of a wish-granting dragon in this animated feature, which is set in Shanghai and counts Jackie Chan among its producers.

REVOLUTION RENT (on HBO Max) How does “La Bohème” transplanted to Alphabet City play when it’s transplanted to Cuba? This documentary follows Andy Señor Jr., the son of Cuban exiles, as he works to put on an American-produced staging of “Rent” in that country. Señor directed with Victor Patrick Alvarez.

AN UNKNOWN COMPELLING FORCE (on demand) This documentary delves into the murky matter of what killed nine hikers in the Ural Mountains in 1959. (A study published earlier this year said it was quite possibly an avalanche.)

THE HITMAN’S WIFE’S BODYGUARD (in theaters) “Samuel L. Jackson is the hit man. Ryan Reynolds is the bodyguard. What more do you want me to say?” A.O. Scott wrote of “The Hitman’s Bodyguard” in 2017. Well, Salma Hayek played the hit man’s wife in that movie, too, and now they’re all back for a sequel. Antonio Banderas and Morgan Freeman also star.

A CRIME ON THE BAYOU (in theaters) Nancy Buirski (“The Rape of Recy Taylor”) directs this documentary about Gary Duncan, who was convicted of simple battery in Louisiana after trying to stop a skirmish near an integrated school. The Supreme Court ultimately found that he had a right to a jury trial.

FATHERHOOD (on Netflix) Kevin Hart plays a widower adjusting to life as a single father in this drama directed by Paul Weitz. It’s adapted from a book by Matthew Logelin.

LUCA (on Disney+) In Pixar’s latest, two sea monsters disguise themselves as boys to experience the wonders of the Italian Riviera on land. Jacob Tremblay and Jack Dylan Grazer voice the two main characters; Enrico Casarosa (the Pixar short “La Luna”) directed.

RISE AGAIN: TULSA AND THE RED SUMMER (on National Geographic and Hulu) This documentary from Dawn Porter (“John Lewis: Good Trouble”) looks at the 1921 massacre in Tulsa when white residents destroyed what was known as “Black Wall Street.”

RITA MORENO: JUST A GIRL WHO DECIDED TO GO FOR IT (in theaters) The EGOT-winning actress revisits her career, recounting her experiences with discrimination in Hollywood, her breakthrough role in “West Side Story” and more. Mariem Pérez Riera directed.

SIBERIA (in theaters and on demand) The idea of Abel Ferrara directing Willem Dafoe as a bartender in Siberia will be irresistible to fans of a certain brand of uncompromising cinema. In an interview, Ferrara described it as “an odyssey movie.”

THE SPARKS BROTHERS (in theaters) Edgar Wright directed what feels like the definitive portrait of the band Sparks, a.k.a. the brothers Ron and Russell Mael, who straddle an almost imperceptibly thin line between the comic and the earnest and whose most consistent trait over 50 years has been their interest in reinventing their sound. Their first movie musical, “Annette” (Aug. 6), also comes out this summer.

SUMMER OF 85 (in theaters) François Ozon directed this tale of young summer romance, which was selected for the canceled Cannes Film Festival last year. A boy (Félix Lefebvre) is saved from a boating accident and then taught worldly ways by his rescuer (Benjamin Voisin).

SWEAT (in theaters) Another selection from the Cannes-that-wasn’t, this Polish feature from Magnus von Horn stars Magdalena Kolesnik as a “fitness influencer” who faces the burdens of being extremely online.

SWEET THING (in theaters) Alexandre Rockwell, a mainstay of American independent filmmaking in the 1990s with films like “In the Soup,” directs his children in a coming-of-age film about a long and fantastical day.

TRUMAN & TENNESSEE: AN INTIMATE CONVERSATION (in theaters and virtual cinemas) The documentarian Lisa Immordino Vreeland puts Truman Capote and Tennessee Williams in an artistic dialogue with each other. Jim Parsons reads Capote’s words in voice-over and Zachary Quinto reads Williams’s.

12 MIGHTY ORPHANS (in theaters) Luke Wilson, Vinessa Shaw and Martin Sheen star in this true story of a how an orphanage’s football team went to compete for championships in Texas during the Great Depression.

SISTERS ON TRACK (on Netflix) Three sisters — Tai, Rainn and Brooke Sheppard — raised in tough circumstances in Brooklyn won medals in the Junior Olympics and were declared “SportsKids of the Year” for 2016 by the children’s edition of Sports Illustrated. This documentary tells their story, on the track and off.

AGAINST THE CURRENT (in theaters) No, it’s not a “Great Gatsby” spinoff. It’s a documentary about Veiga Gretarsdottir, a transgender kayaker who sets out to circumnavigate Iceland in the more difficult counterclockwise direction.

F9 (in theaters) Just when Dom (Vin Diesel) and Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) thought they had settled into a quiet family life, Dom’s brother (John Cena) — who is every bit the driver Dom is, and also an assassin — turns up to settle scores. Justin Lin directed.

FALSE POSITIVE (on Hulu) Ilana Glazer and Justin Theroux play a couple trying to get pregnant who discover that their doctor (Pierce Brosnan) has a dark side.

I CARRY YOU WITH ME (in theaters) The documentarian Heidi Ewing (“Detropia”) turns to dramatized filmmaking, though not entirely (to say more would be a spoiler), with this story of the love between two Mexican men (Armando Espitia and Christian Vázquez) and how their bond endures after one, with his eye on working as a chef, crosses into the United States.

THE ICE ROAD (on Netflix) Liam Neeson plays a badass big-rig driver trying to rescue entombed miners in the frozen reaches of Canada.

KENNY SCHARF: WHEN WORLDS COLLIDE (in theaters and on demand) Malia Scharf, with Max Basch, directed this look at her father, who emerged from the East Village art world of the 1980s.

WEREWOLVES WITHIN (in theaters) Holed up in a snowstorm, the residents of a small town must contend with lycanthropy. Josh Ruben directed; Milana Vayntrub and Sam Richardson star.

WOLFGANG (on Disney+) Not Amadeus Mozart, but Puck. David Gelb (“Jiro Dreams of Sushi”) directed this portrait of the celebrity chef’s career.

AMERICA: THE MOTION PICTURE (on Netflix) With the voice of Channing Tatum as a “chainsaw-wielding” George Washington, this irreverent animated feature makes a travesty of key figures of the American Revolution. Jason Mantzoukas and Olivia Munn also supply voices. Matt Thompson directed.

LYDIA LUNCH — THE WAR IS NEVER OVER (in theaters and virtual cinemas) The New York underground filmmaker Beth B directed this portrait of another figure from the scene, the No Wave singer Lydia Lunch.

ZOLA (in theaters) A tale originally told in a viral 148-tweet thread (and then in a Rolling Stone article about the thread) is now a major motion picture, directed by Janicza Bravo (“Lemon”) and written by Bravo and the playwright Jeremy O. Harris (“Slave Play”). Taylour Paige stars as a waitress and occasional stripper who is taken on a wild trip to Florida by another stripper (Riley Keough). Colman Domingo also stars.

NO SUDDEN MOVE (on HBO Max) The pandemic hasn’t slowed down Steven Soderbergh. His latest feature is a crime thriller starring Don Cheadle as an ex-con who plots a convoluted scheme that goes awry. Benicio Del Toro, Ray Liotta, Jon Hamm and Amy Seimetz are among the many familiar faces populating Detroit in 1954, when the film is set.

BEING A HUMAN PERSON (in theaters) The Swedish commercial director turned deadpan filmmaker Roy Andersson is the subject of this documentary, which follows the making of his latest movie, “About Endlessness,” which opened in April.

FEAR STREET (on Netflix) R.L. Stine’s “Fear Street” books have become three feature films — set in 1994, 1978 and 1666, respectively — that will be released on a weekly basis starting July 2. Stine has said that the content won’t be toned down for children. Leigh Janiak directed all three movies, and cast members recur throughout.

FIRST DATE (in theaters and on demand) Tyson Brown plays a teenager who takes his dream girl (Shelby Duclos) on a misadventure-filled outing in a dilapidated Chrysler.

THE FOREVER PURGE (in theaters) In the “Purge” franchise, murder is made legal for one day a year. This fifth film in the series dares to ask, what if it were more than one day? Judging from the trailer, you should also count on commentary on United States-Mexico border politics.

SUMMER OF SOUL (… OR, WHEN THE REVOLUTION COULD NOT BE TELEVISED) (in theaters and on Hulu) In his first feature documentary as director, Questlove assembles joyous archival footage from the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, a series of concerts that developed a reputation as the Black Woodstock. The film features electrifying performances from Nina Simone, Sly & the Family Stone, Ray Barretto and more.

TILL DEATH (in theaters and on demand) The “Jennifer’s Body” star Megan Fox plays a woman who wakes up handcuffed to her husband’s corpse in this thriller.

THE TOMORROW WAR (on Amazon). Chris Pratt, Yvonne Strahovski and J.K. Simmons are all tapped for a war effort against aliens that won’t happen until 30 years in the future. Time travel makes this possible.

BLACK WIDOW (in theaters and on Disney+) The Marvel universe continues to swallow promising actors by casting “Midsommar” and “Little Women” standout Florence Pugh as Yelena, who is brought together as a family with Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow. The Australian filmmaker Cate Shortland (“Berlin Syndrome”) directed.

SUMMERTIME (in theaters) Carlos López Estrada (“Blindspotting”) directed this vibrant panorama of life in Los Angeles. It’s like a musical, but instead of bursting into song, the characters share their emotions in poetry, written by the cast members, who are poets.

THE WITCHES OF THE ORIENT (in theaters) Julien Faraut, an archivist whose documentary “John McEnroe: In the Realm of Perfection” posed intriguing parallels between tennis and cinema, recounts how textile workers in Japan became an internationally celebrated volleyball team.

CAN YOU BRING IT: BILL T. JONES AND D-MAN IN THE WATERS (in theaters and virtual cinemas) The dancer Rosalynde LeBlanc and Tom Hurwitz direct a portrait of the choreographer as LeBlanc oversees a production of his 1989 work “D-Man in the Waters,” which addressed the AIDS epidemic in dance.

ESCAPE ROOM: TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS (in theaters) Taylor Russell and Logan Miller, who played escapees in the first “Escape Room” (2019), find themselves ensnared again.

ROADRUNNER: A FILM ABOUT ANTHONY BOURDAIN (in theaters) Morgan Neville (“Won’t You Be My Neighbor”) directed this portrait of the “Kitchen Confidential” chef, who died in 2018.

SPACE JAM: A NEW LEGACY (in theaters and on HBO Max) In 1996, Michael Jordan joined the Looney Tunes on the basketball court. This time it’s LeBron James who assembles Bugs and the gang for a hybrid live-action/animated round of hoops, with a lot of other Warner Bros. intellectual property filling out the sidelines. Malcolm D. Lee directed.

AILEY (in theaters and on demand) Using archival footage and its subject’s words, the director Jamila Wignot’s documentary recounts the career of the dancer-choreographer Alvin Ailey (1931-89).

EYIMOFE (THIS IS MY DESIRE) (in theaters) The siblings Arie and Chuko Esiri directed this film set in Lagos, Nigeria, about two people separately trying to leave for Europe.

HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA: TRANSFORMANIA (in theaters) The transformation in this fourth feature of the animated franchise happens when a “monsterfication ray” turns humans into monsters and monsters into humans. But there’s a behind-the-scenes transformation, too: Dracula’s vocal cords aren’t supplied by Adam Sandler this time, but by Brian Hull.

THE LAST LETTER FROM YOUR LOVER (on Netflix). In this summer’s addition to the tear-jerker sweepstakes, Felicity Jones plays a journalist who uncovers an affair from the 1960s between another journalist (Callum Turner) and a married woman (Shailene Woodley).

MANDIBLES (in theaters and on demand) The French absurdist and electronic musician Quentin Dupieux (“Deerskin”) serves up another deadpan oddity, about two friends trying to train a giant fly.

OLD (in theaters) It wouldn’t be an M. Night Shyamalan film if the premise weren’t shrouded in mystery, but judging from the Super Bowl trailer, it stars Gael García Bernal and Vicky Krieps (“Phantom Thread”) as parents vacationing with their family on a beach that magically turns their children … old.

SNAKE EYES: G.I. JOE ORIGINS (in theaters) Based on the line of action figures, this franchise adds to its collection by giving an origin story to Snake Eyes, played by Ray Park in earlier movies and now embodied — during his ninja-training phase — by Henry Golding.

RESORT TO LOVE (on Netflix). Christina Milian plays a singer who aspires to superstardom but is reduced to performing at her ex’s wedding.

ENEMIES OF THE STATE (in theaters and on demand) Executive produced by Errol Morris, this documentary, directed by Sonia Kennebeck, unravels the case of Matt DeHart, a hacktivist who sought refuge in Canada and claimed the F.B.I. had tortured him.

THE GREEN KNIGHT (in theaters) Dev Patel has a seat at the round table as Gawain, the nephew of King Arthur, in the director David Lowery’s quest to revive the Arthurian legend onscreen. Alicia Vikander, Joel Edgerton and Sarita Choudhury also star.

JUNGLE CRUISE (in theaters and on Disney+) In 1916, a British researcher (Emily Blunt) travels to South America and hires a roguish, Bogartian skipper (Dwayne Johnson) as her guide through the Amazon. It’s based on a ride at Disneyland, and indirectly on a long lineage of Hollywood adventure films. Edgar Ramírez, Jesse Plemons and Paul Giamatti co-star. Jaume Collet-Serra directed.

THE LAST MERCENARY (on Netflix) French authorities falsely allege that a young man has been trafficking arms and drugs. Unfortunately for them, his father is played by Jean-Claude Van Damme.

NINE DAYS (in theaters) Winston Duke plays an interrogator at a way station of sorts, where he interviews people — actually unborn souls — some of whom will earn the right to be born as humans. Zazie Beetz plays an interviewee who confounds him. Edson Oda wrote and directed.

SABAYA (in theaters and on demand) This documentary trails intrepid volunteer workers in Syria who extract women and girls held captive as sex slaves by the Islamic State.

STILLWATER Tom McCarthy (“Spotlight”) directed Matt Damon as an American oil-rig worker whose daughter (Abigail Breslin) is imprisoned for murder in Marseille, France. She says she is innocent; he scrambles to help her.

ANNETTE (in theaters) While Edgar Wright’s documentary about the band Sparks (June 18) covers the cinephile musicians’ history of movie projects that never came to fruition, this feature film gives them their chance: They wrote the screenplay, the songs and the score for this love story, and Leos Carax (“Holy Motors”) directed. Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard star.

EMA (in theaters) The Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larraín directs this story of a dancer (Mariana Di Girolamo) and a choreographer (Gael García Bernal) whose lives are thrown out of whack after they return the boy they adopted.

JOHN AND THE HOLE (in theaters and on demand) At the age of 13, John (Charlie Shotwell) gains a measure of adult independence by drugging his immediate family (Jennifer Ehle, Michael C. Hall and Taissa Farmiga) and imprisoning them in a bunker. Pascual Sisto directed this detached, chilly open-ended allegory.

THE MACALUSO SISTERS (in theaters) The Italian playwright and theater director Emma Dante directed this story of five orphan sisters in living in Palermo. She adapted it from her play.

THE SUICIDE SQUAD (in theaters and on HBO Max) If it doesn’t work the first time, add a definite article. Poised somewhere between a reboot of and a sequel to “Suicide Squad” (2016), the movie sets several DC characters, including Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn, loose on a jungle island. James Gunn (“Guardians of the Galaxy”) wrote and directed. With Idris Elba, John Cena, Sylvester Stallone and Viola Davis.

THE KISSING BOOTH 3 (on Netflix) This entry in the series finds Elle (Joey King) getting ready for college.

CODA (in theaters and on Apple TV+) A crowd-pleaser (and awards-grabber, with four prizes) at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, the movie tells the story of a child of deaf adults (Emilia Jones) in a working-class Massachusetts fishing family. She wants to sing, a passion that is alien to her non-hearing parents (Marlee Matlin and Troy Kotsur) and brother (Daniel Durant). Sian Heder directed this remake of a French film.

DAYS (in theaters) A highlight of last year’s New York Film Festival, the director Tsai Ming-liang’s feature follows two men — one in Taipei, then Hong Kong (the Tsai regular Lee Kang-sheng); the other in Bangkok (Anong Houngheuangsy) — who in the second half meet, and for a little while are not alone.

DON’T BREATHE 2 (in theaters) In the first “Don’t Breathe” (2016), Stephen Lang played a blind veteran whose dark secrets were among that home-invasion tale’s surprises. There’s more on those in this sequel. Rodo Sayagues directed, co-writing with Fede Alvarez, who directed the original.

FREE GUY (in theaters) Ryan Reynolds plays a bank teller who finds out, “Truman Show”-like, that he is actually a background character in a video game. Shawn Levy directed. Jodie Comer and Lil Rel Howery also star.

THE MEANING OF HITLER (in theaters and on demand) The documentarians Petra Epperlein and Michael Tucker examine the rise of Nazi Germany and draw parallels with the rumblings of authoritarianism across the globe today.

THE LOST LEONARDO (in theaters) Andreas Koefoed’s documentary investigates the dealings that surround “Salvator Mundi,” the most expensive painting ever sold at auction, when in 2017 it was billed as a lost painting by Leonardo da Vinci. Unsurprisingly, not everyone agrees.

RESPECT (in theaters) Find out what it means to her: Jennifer Hudson plays Aretha Franklin in this biopic of the Queen of Soul, directed by the theater vet Liesl Tommy. With Mary J. Blige as Dinah Washington, Audra McDonald as Franklin’s mother and Forest Whitaker as Franklin’s father, the Rev. C.L. Franklin.

CRYPTOZOO (in theaters and on demand) It’s really more of a cryptid zoo, a cryptid being an animal that is the subject of lore but does not actually exist, like the dream-eating creature that everyone is after in this movie. It’s an animated film, from the graphic novelist Dash Shaw. Lake Bell, Michael Cera, Louisa Krause and Thomas Jay Ryan provided some of the voices.

THE NIGHT HOUSE (in theaters) Rebecca Hall plays a widow who discovers that her husband had a … thing for women who looked quite a bit like her, one of whom is played by Stacy Martin. What was he up to? David Bruckner directed, with an appetite for jump scares.

PAW PATROL: THE MOVIE (in theaters) The techno-fitted animated canines of the children’s TV series make the leap to the big screen.

THE PROTÉGÉ (in theaters) This is the second movie of the summer in which Samuel L. Jackson plays a hit man (after “The Hitman’s Bodyguard’s Wife”) — except that this one concerns the hit man’s daughter (Maggie Q), or at least the woman he raised like a daughter, a hit woman herself, who seeks revenge after he is murdered. Michael Keaton co-stars, also playing a killer. Martin Campbell (“Casino Royale”) directed.

REMINISCENCE (in theaters and on HBO Max) Lisa Joy, a creator of “Westworld,” wrote and directed this thriller, which casts Hugh Jackman as a sleuth who digs up lost memories. Rebecca Ferguson plays his latest customer.

WILDLAND (in theaters) This dark Danish feature concerns a teenager (Sandra Guldberg Kampp) who, after her mother’s death, goes to live with an aunt (Sidse Babett Knudsen) and an extended clan filled with criminality and addiction.

THE BEATLES: GET BACK (in theaters) Peter Jackson, who used archival footage to bring World War I back to life in “They Shall Not Grow Old,” uses tens of hours of restored footage and audio — billed as previously unseen and unheard — to showcase the Beatles as they were in 1969.

CANDYMAN (in theaters) Even without anyone saying Candyman’s name to a mirror, a haunting teaser trailer with only shadow puppets, from last year, set the bar high for this remake, directed by Nia DaCosta (“Little Woods”) and co-written by, among others, Jordan Peele. Interestingly, it appears to retain the milieu of Chicago’s mostly defunct Cabrini-Green housing project, where much of the 1992 original took place. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Teyonah Parris star. Colman Domingo also appears.

HE’S ALL THAT (on Netflix) Mark Waters (“Mean Girls”) directed this gender-swapped remake of “She’s All That.” Addison Rae plays an influencer who gives a dork (Tanner Buchanan) an image makeover.

VACATION FRIENDS (on Hulu) A couple (Yvonne Orji and Lil Rel Howery) is mortified when some casual friends from a vacation (Meredith Hagner and John Cena) crash their wedding.

THE BIG SCARY “S” WORD (in theaters) Spoiler alert: The word is “socialism,” and Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are among the interviewees in this documentary about its history in the United States.

FAYA DAYI (in theaters) When the director Jessica Beshir’s experimental documentary, shot in Harar, Ethiopia, played at New Directors/New Films in the spring, Beatrice Loayza, writing in The Times, called it “dreamy and visually dazzling.” The film, she wrote, considers the toll that the economics of khat — a plant that is used as a drug — takes “on a rural community across generations.”

MOGUL MOWGLI (in theaters) Riz Ahmed plays a rapper whose body begins to fail him, but it’s not “Sound of Metal” redux. Rather, it’s a story of British-Pakistani identity, and the character’s denial of his heritage may even be responsible for his autoimmune condition. Bassam Tariq (the well-regarded documentary “These Birds Walk”) directed.

Listings compiled with the assistance of Gabe Cohn.

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Business

Retail conglomerate Genuine Manufacturers Group readies for summer season IPO

People enter a Forever 21 store at a shopping mall in Montebello, California on September 30, 2019 a day after the fashion retailer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Frederic J. Brown | AFP | Getty Images

The retail conglomerate Authentic Brands Group is preparing for an initial public offering that could come as soon as this summer, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Authentic Brands — which owns businesses including Juicy Couture, Brooks Brothers, Aeropostale and Forever 21 — is targeting a valuation of about $10 billion in its IPO, said the person, who requested anonymity because the discussions remain private. At $10 billion, that would mean Authentic Brands’ market value would surpass that of Under Armour, Kohl’s, Ralph Lauren and Dick’s Sporting Goods. However, the size of the deal could change since it isn’t finalized.

Authentic Brands was valued at more than $4 billion, inclusive of debt, when BlackRock invested in the business back in 2019.

The official registration statement for the public offering is expected to be filed by Authentic Brands in early July, the person said, and shares could begin trading by the end of that month.

A spokesperson from Authentic Brands declined to comment.

Since the company’s inception, Authentic Brands’ founder and CEO Jamie Salter has accumulated more than two dozen retail brands, including the bankrupt department store chain Barneys New York, Nautica and Nine West.

The business currently does more than $10 billion in retail sales annually, according to its website.

Authentic Brands’ strategy in recent years has entailed working with two of the biggest publicly traded mall owners in the United States, Simon Property Group and Brookfield Property Partners. The trio came together in 2016 to purchase the teen apparel retailer Aeropostale out of bankruptcy. They did it again with Forever 21 last year.

With Simon, Authentic Brands has separately created a joint-venture known as SPARC Group, which currently runs the operations of Brooks Brothers, Nautica, Aeropostale, Forever 21 and Lucky Brand.

Authentic Brands and SPARC recently announced they will be acquiring Eddie Bauer from the private-equity firm Golden Gate Capital.

In addition to BlackRock, Authentic Brands is backed by investors including General Atlantic and Leonard Green & Partners. BlackRock and General Atlantic declined to comment, while Leonard Green & Partners didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

“I’m in the first inning,” Salter told CNBC in an interview last year. “People are asking me, ‘Jamie. Mall-based retail? I don’t get it.’ … What I am going to say to you is, we need bricks and mortar. Retail really needs it.”

Bloomberg first reported on Authentic Brands’ plans to go public.

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Business

6 Issues You Ought to Know About Touring to Europe This Summer season

By now, most of the large American-run chains have reverted to their pre-Covid cancellation policies for reservations made before a certain date (that has come and gone), and for travel through a certain date (that has come and gone). But some companies are still being flexible: Hilton has always had generous cancellation policies, and Four Seasons has been consistently easy about changes and cancellations during the pandemic.

Travel-industry insiders also have noticed flexibility among independent hoteliers.

“We’ve felt that small, family-run luxury properties are actually more nimble than some of the big hotel chains,” said Louisa Gehring, the owner of Gehring Travel, an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso luxury travel agency. “Rather than lay off all their employees or point to an overarching corporate cancellation policy, they’ve had flexibility to keep the teams on, work with clients on a case-by-case basis and really step up to the plate.”

Policies vary by property, she added, but even some of the more rigid ones now include exceptions for Covid.

One thing to watch for is the credits-versus-refunds flash point: Even in cases when a hotel won’t swallow a deposit or prepayment outright, will you get a cash refund or will you be asked to rebook? Last year, Greece and Italy both passed laws allowing hotels and other travel companies to issue credits, rather than cash refunds, for canceled bookings. Although vaccines, the eagerness to travel and pandemic fatigue may make the idea of a credit less odious than it seemed last spring, always ask about policy specifics, including blackout and expiration dates.

The Palace of Versailles is open and President Emmanuel Macron is sipping espresso outside Parisian cafes, but nightclubs will remain closed even after France’s countrywide curfew ends in June. At restaurants and bars in Madrid, groups are capped at four people inside and six people outside. Germany and the Netherlands remain closed to American tourists.

“Clearly, we will not come back to ‘normal’ straight away, and travelers will have to be conscious of health measures and respect rules at the destination,” said Eduardo Santander, the executive director of the European Travel Commission, a Brussels-based nonprofit that represents the national tourism boards across the continent. “We all — destinations, businesses and guests — cannot let the guard down too soon both for our own health and for the safety of people around.”

In short, any trip to Europe this summer will come down to managing expectations.

“Save the ‘must check all the boxes’ trip to Europe for a bit later, once all new protocol kinks have smoothed out,” Ms. Gehring said. But you may still have an unforgettable experience regardless.

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Business

Europe is welcoming vaccinated vacationers this summer time

Beach goers sunbathe and swim on a beach in Portimao, Algarve Region, Portugal.

NurPhoto | NurPhoto | Getty Images

Delicious pasta in Florence, a stroll along the Champs-Élysées in Paris or a beautiful sunset on one of the Greek islands – tourism in Europe wants to get back to normal this summer.

EU countries officially agreed on Thursday to welcome foreign travelers who have received one of the coronavirus vaccines approved by European regulators. So far, these include vaccines from Pfizer and BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson. Vaccinated persons are allowed to enter the block if they have received the last recommended dose at least 14 days before their arrival in the EU.

Ultimately, each Member State will decide when and to whom to reopen its borders. Therefore, each government from the 27 nations will decide whether to completely lift quarantine measures and / or tests for international visitors.

Children excluded from the vaccination can travel to the block with their family if they did not test negative more than 72 hours before arrival.

While it remains to be seen how each EU nation will welcome foreign travelers, the deal at the EU level is a welcome move for the ailing tourism industry.

“We know consumers want to travel this summer, so we appreciate that European countries could allow vaccinated people to travel without testing,” an easyJet airline spokesman told CNBC via email.

“It is of course important that this is done in a simple manner to ensure that it is easy for passengers,” said the same spokesman.

The EU decision could be particularly important for British tourists who are now outside the EU and represent one of the most important markets for tourism-dependent EU countries. In addition, people in the US, Israel and other highly vaccinated parts of the world should also benefit from the EU’s stance.

So far, the EU has only assessed a country’s coronavirus infection rate to decide whether to allow visitors. But the bloc is now relaxing that rule too, and more citizens from more countries will get the green light.

But Brussels is also aware that the health situation could change due to new variants of the virus.

As a result, the EU countries have also agreed on a new “emergency brake”. If the epidemiological situation in a country worsens, they can quickly impose travel restrictions in that country.

Travel and Leisure stocks in Europe closed 1.5% on Thursday.

Stephen Furlong, a senior analyst at wealth management firm Davy, told CNBC that the EU’s decision was largely expected by market participants, hence the muted stock response.

“It is still not clear whether the US is opening up to Europe,” he said of one of the major uncertainties for international travel this summer, while predicting that he does not expect “consumers will travel extensively”.

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World News

Italy’s Vaccine Drive Runs Up In opposition to a Sacred Establishment: Summer time Trip

ROM – As Dr. Mario Sorlini puts patients in a vaccination center near the badly affected Italian city of Bergamo, explaining a possible complication of the coronavirus vaccine.

The second dose, he tells patients with horrified faces, will fall on a date during the summer vacation.

“‘But then I’ll be in Sardinia,'” he said, saying that some had responded with distress. Others moan about hotel rooms that they have already booked. Some, he said, get up and leave.

For months, Italians have been starving for vaccines that will give them security, freedom from lockdown and a taste of normal life. After initial pitfalls and hurdles, the vaccination campaign is finally accelerating, but it is entering the summer vacation, sacred to many Italians, and fears among officials that a significant number would rather get away than get vaccinated.

“I am sure that after such a tough year many will take the risk of delaying the vaccine,” said Renata Tosi, the mayor of Riccione, a beach town so identified with summer flights that she gave her name a new holiday anthem . This could pose a significant threat next fall, Ms. Tosi wrote in an open letter to the president of the region.

“The second shot blocks holidays,” read a headline in Messaggero Veneto, a newspaper in northeastern Italy, which raised concerns in newspapers, websites and social media accounts across the country.

An estimated 20 million Italians – mostly 40 and 50-year-olds – face the prospect of getting their second shots in mid-July or worse, in the flood of Italian August that draws people from cities to swelling coastal towns.

To avoid a potentially catastrophic summer freeze in the vaccination campaign and more economic troubles, the Italian regions are calling on the government to meet vacationers where they are and offer shots on the beach.

“We want to give tourists who do not come from Veneto the second dose,” Luca Zaia, the president of this region, which also includes Venice, told reporters. “And even foreigners, if they want, we can find a solution for them.” . “He has charged the government with pressure on the government to be more flexible in order to save the tourism season and loosen the rigid regional health system so that Italians in sun and surf regions far from home can be vaccinated.

Others are working on contingency plans. In Lombardy, another region in the north where the former health officer lost his job last year after refusing to recall nurses from the Christmas vacation, his successor has tried to avoid planning second doses in August.

The president of the mountainous region of Piedmont in the north-west has promised flexibility and proposed an agreement with the coastal region of Liguria that should allow their vacationers to exchange second doses.

Italy’s new government, led by Prime Minister Mario Draghi, prides itself on pragmatism and is desperate to get the tourism industry going. Mr Draghi recently announced that Italy would lift quarantines and restrictions on vaccinated international tourists, telling them, “It is time to book your vacation in Italy.”

Island paradises like Capri, preferred by many foreigners, have accelerated their vaccination campaigns and are now considered Covid-free. But when it comes to Italians who are still vaccinated during the summer months, the government has tried to strike a balance between being open to innovative ideas and scolding Italians for their spring and summer fever.

Updated

May 20, 2021, 9:17 p.m. ET

“When we do fancy flights and inventions, I’m not there,” said Francesco Paolo Figliuolo, an army general in charge of Italy’s vaccination efforts, on Tuesday, trying to throw cold water on the governors’ plans to vaccinate Italians where to go.

Such a policy would most likely disrupt rigid regional databases and the orderly process that has finally begun to lower deaths and contagions. Italians, the general said, should plan their vacations around the vaccination appointment near their home. “If you go on vacation, you should plan according to your appointment,” he said.

Massimiliano Fedriga, president of the Italian regional conference, also described the idea of ​​vaccinating vacationing Italians as impossible.

“I hope everyone can see that there are millions and billions of tourists arriving in some places,” he told reporters. “And that it is technically impossible.”

He suggested leaving the vacation for a day and then going back.

But that is perhaps easier said than done, and many have complained that the government is responsible for changing reservations and creating confusion. To increase the number of Italians with some protection against the virus, on April 30, Italy allowed the waiting time between the first and second dose of the Pfizer vaccine to be extended from 21 to 42 days. Italians who received the AstraZeneca vaccine have to wait even longer between admissions, with those now receiving the first dose often coinciding the follow-up with the August Abyss.

The result has been a serious dilemma for Italians who have already planned their summer vacation and are weighing lost deposits against losing their vaccination slots.

Even in a normal year, summer holidays in Italy are a serious issue. For a certain, well-heeled section of society, summer plans, often a month away from work, are all they talk about, starting around March.

This year, people have sought vacations with such vengeance that tourism companies are using the term “vengeance trip” to describe how Italians are trying to cope with the gruesome months of lockdown as well. Surfing for vacation homes has become the new doom scrolling.

This week in Italy, Italians talked about how “holidays are sacred” and how the siren call of a vaccination wasn’t strong enough to keep them off the course of Sicily.

The less-at-risk 30- and 20-year-olds in the next category eligible for vaccination are even less likely to stay home during the summer.

Ms Tosi, the mayor of Riccione, said in her letter that she had received many appeals from people who received their first cans in Milan to take their second shots in their coastal city.

“We really want to answer” yes “and show that the country has the flexibility to fight the virus and save the summer.” We have to give citizens the opportunity to end their vaccination prices in vacation spots. “

Dr. Sorlini in Albino near Bergamo said that most of his patients accepted the summer follow-up appointment for the time being, but many asked, “Can I do this on the beach?”

He said he expects at least 10 people a day to give up their August dates for second shots, which means he will struggle not to waste those cans.

Ciro Mautone, 58, a security guard at Camponeschi, a café popular during the Rome holidays, said he selected Johnson and Johnson’s vaccine, which does not require a second shot in order not to partially interrupt a possible vacation.

But he said that after the brutal year that his work was impacted by company closings, he focused on making up for lost income rather than fretting about canceling a vacation.

“I wish I had this problem,” he said.

Emma Bubola and Gaia Pianigiani contributed to the coverage.